Succotash In A Nutshell

Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast is a show that features other comedy soundcasts (AKA "podcasts") and in an effort to not only expose audiences to the wide range of comedy offerings available, but also to broaden the appeal of podcasts in general. Hosted by Marc Hershon, whose background in the worlds of comedy, writing and product naming gives him the chops necessary to come off sounding like a blustering know-it-all.
The show is produced and engineered by Joe Paulino out of Sausalito's Studio P, "The Home Of The Hit." Our associate producer is Tyson Saner, and our booth announcer is Bill Heywatt.

Back to basics with Episode 11 of Succotash, meaning we've got a full boat of comedy podcast clips in store this time around and no special guests. Unless you count my impromptu discussion with legendary announcer Bill Heywatt. That happens. We also play our very first message that's come in on the Succotash Hotline. The only message, actually. At least so far.

The biggest news on the Succotash front is that we've just joined up with the Comedy channel on Stitcher SmartRadio! If you're not hip to Stitcher yet, it allows you to listen to your favorite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, BlackBerry or Palm phones. If you don't have Stitcher yet, you can download it for free today at Stitcher.com or from your favorite app store. (If you're already used to listening to us on our website or download us from iTunes or grabbing it from our RSS feed, all that remains the same - Stitcher is just another way to pass the Succotash!)

We've been getting some nice kudos from a few of the podcasters out there (not to mention our fabulous listeners), so thanks! We don't think of ourselves as competition - we're really just trying to spread the word about podcasting in general and to let folks hear some samples of the programming that's available on the internet. So for those comedy podcasters that want to have us feature them on a future episode of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, just shoot us a 3-5 minutes MP3 clip from a recent 'sode - send it along to marc@SuccotashShow.com and we'll do the rest.

Can't seem to get enough of Bob Ducca, Seth Morris' brilliant sad sack self-help health guru! In this clip, we get a peek inside Bob's medicine cabinet. You can catch him five days a week over at Earwolf, the comedy podcast portal that has recently been dubbed THE podcast place to be over at FunnyOrDie! Bob tweets, too!

Another new favorite of mine is Superego. Fast-paced and very funny, these guys have several screws loose and a bunch of Hollywood-based guests to boot. Mostly improvised, beautifully produced, and with a shorthand language all their own, I make a comparison on the show to Superego being the 21st century's answer to the fabulous Firesign Theater. In addition to their homesite and iTunes, also catch Superego on Stitcher SmartRadio.

Hosts Derek Sheen and Douglas Gale are back for a replay on Succotash, this time with guest comedian Ahamefule J. Oulo (whose name I horribly mangle in my intro - sorry!) I have a warm spot in my heart for these guys, as they hail from the Northwest, where I did time a long, long time ago in a comedy club far, far away in Seattle. Check 'em on their homesite and iTunes.

First time in the Succotash for Joe Hammer and Dan Heinz. These guys are heavyweights (literally) in the movie biz and they split their time talking about pop culture matters, review movies AND previews (in a segment featured here called "Trailer Trash"), and they bust each other's ball occasionally, too. Get the big bucket o' popcorn for this one. Check 'em out on iTunes, Stitcher and their tweets, too.

Sometimes it's not all about comedy. At least at The Moth. This is more like the NPR of podcasts. True spoken word performances, with subjects all over the map. Because Succotashis about comedy, we feature a story from writer Peter Hyman performed at one of The Moth's StorySLAMS. Catch their refreshing honesty at their homesite and on iTunes.

I was turned onto comedians Jon Schieszer and Erik Marino by friend-of-the-show Dave Nelson over on the Comedy-A-Go-Go podcast. While sports is not my bag, these guys are funny as they cover the wide world of them like a blanket. A funny, irreverent blanket. In the clip on the show, they're joined by national headliner Steve Byrne. Homesite and iTunes are the places to catch these boys.

"America Through The Eyes Of Two American Americans" is the tagline for this show featuring Seth Romatelli and Jonathan Larroquette. Long-running (290 epi's and counting!!!), UYD is a simple formula: Seth and Jonathan talking about pop culture and news of the day, ripped from today's headlines. In our segment, they talk about competing fat women. Find them at their homesite and at iTunes.

Intrepid politicomic Will Durst checks in for his regular slot, this time dredging up the new-old theory of Trickle Up Economics being exhibited by our elected leadership.Make his homeside a regular stop or click on his name to get over to his tweetstream.

To get even more of the Succotash experience, please hop over and Like us at our page on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Rate n' review us at iTunes. And don't forget that we're now also available for instant listening on Stitcher SmartRadio!

We'd love to hear from you to get your suggestions for comedy podcasts to feature on the show. Or maybe your comments and commentary about your favorite shows. Call into our Succotash Hotline any time, day or night - voicemail is standing by at (818) 921-7212.

That's about it for now. Thanks as always to Super Producer Joe Paulino and Musical Director Scott Carvey. Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

WARNING: Episode 10 is not our typical 'sode. (Actually, I 'm not sure - in the first 10 episodes of our podcast - that we have anything that can be pointed to as "typical".) Anyway, what I mean is that this edition of Succotash, The Comedy Podcast Podcast, has no comedy podcast clips in it.

Dana and Scott Carvey sharing memories at Studio P

It does, however, offer something you're not going to find anywhere else in Podcastland: A visit with comedian Dana Carvey and his brother, Scott Carvey, who also happens to be Succotash's musical director. For the first time in podcast history, the Carvey boys sit down and talk about their love of sports, running, music, comedy...and anything else that this free-ranging discussion happens to hit upon.

I think this show represents a true "find" for the comedy aficionado, comedy nerd, Carvey fan and anyone else who enjoys a one-of-a-kind experience. (Special thanks this week to our Engineer/Producer Joe Paulino for doing a bangup job in editing this weeks offering!)

Although we don't have any podcast clips featured this show, we do have our regular feature, our Burst O' Durst with political comedian extraordinaire Will Durst. Then we'll be back to a full rack of comedy podcast clips in our next edition, Epi11, along with Durst, and commercials from our sponsor, Henderson's Pants.

In the meantime, if you have a question, comment or suggestion, please hit up our Tweet Sack via @SucctotashShow or marc@SuccotashShow.com; or you can dial into our Succotash Hotline: (800) 921-7212.

Big treat this week: I'm the special guest aboard Epi225 of Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Co-hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness were featured as OUR guests back in Epi4 of Succotash, and we've played a couple of clips from their show before as well. It seems turnabout is fair play and during a recent trip to LA to interview Kelly Carlin (currently featured on Epi9), the Chillpak guys asked if I'd join them for an upcoming Labor Day episode.

Quite a thrill for me, as CHH was one of the first podcasts which I began to listen to on a regular basis. Having just celebrated their 4th year of podcasting goodness, I dubbed Dean and Phil "podcasting royalty". Although their focus is Hollywood — not so much celebrities and gossip so much as the nuts n' bolts of films, filmmakers and filmaking — they are fun and funny guys (Dean being not only an accomplished actor but also an improvisor and standup comedian), thus maintaining their eligibility to be featured on Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.

As I only reveal bits of my history and interests as time allows on Succotash, giving Epi224 of CHH a play will let OUR listeners know a little bit more about the host of this show. At the same time, it's an example of how a freewheeling, funny discussion can come off pretty easily among three guys just sitting around and chatting. I'd like to encourage our loyal Succotashians to hop on over to either ChillpakHollywood.com or to iTunes and not only listen but subscribe to Chillpak Hollywood Hour!